Ar-brake



(No Model.) 2 Sheets'Sheet 1.

L. G'- ARNOLD.

GAR BRAKE.

No. 446,504. I Patented Feb. 17,1891.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 L. G ARNOLD. CAR BRAKE.

V N0. 446,504. Patented Feb. 17,1891.

WWW/W with rates arnivr @rrrcn.

LEONARD G. ARNOLD, OF MEJASII'A, \VISCONSIN.

CAR-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 446,504, dated February 17, 1891.

Application filed July 28, 1890 Serial No. 360,197. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEONARD G. ARNOLD, ot' )Ienasha, in the county of WVinnebago, and in the State of .Visconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car 3 akes and Bumpers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to car brakes and bumpers; and it consists in certain peculiarities of construction and combination of parts, to be hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings,and subsequently claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a plan view, partly in horizontal section, of certain parts of a car provided with my improvements; Figs. 2 and 3, vertical longitudinal sections, respectively, taken on lines 2 2 and 3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a view similar to Fig. 1, illustrating another form of my invention; Fig. 5, a vertical longitudinal section on line 5 5 of Fig. 4:; and Fig. 6, a side elevation, partly broken away, and illustrative of certain of the parts shown in Fig. 4.

Referring by letter to the drawings, A represents the frame of a car, and B a draw-bar of the same,said draw-bar being provided with a rack C for engagement with a pinion D, that is fast on a laterally-adjustable shaft E, the latter having its bearings b on said frame.

In that form of my invention shown by Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive, the shaft E may be provided at its ends with handles 0, as illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. l, and at intervals of its length said shaft is provided with collars cl 6, to which I connect levers F G. The levers F, near the ends of the shaft E, are worked from the side of the car, and the lever G, midway between the pinion D and one of the side levers, is actuated from the top of said car by means of a pivoted vertically-disposed rod ll. (Best illustrated in Fig. 2.)

A chain I or other flexible device connects the shaft E with one of the rods 1, attached to the usual brake-lever J, and, as will be hereinafter more fully described, a rear move ment of the draw-bar B will set the brakes when the rack O and pinion D are in gear. The rack and pinion are brought in and out of mesh by lateral adjustment of the shaft E, and this adjustment may be seen red by means of the handles a or levers F G, as may be most convenient. When the side levers F are employed, their position, in or out, will show the train-hands the relation of the pinion D to the rack C, and the position of the rod II will also indicate whether or not said pinion and rack are in mesh.

In both forms of my invention the rear portion of the drawbar B is hollow, as best illustrated in Fig. 5, and within this hollow rear portion of said draw-bar I arrange a spiral spring K, that surrounds a rod L, the front end of the latter being provided with a head f opposed to said spring. The rear end of the rod K is passed through a timber g of the car to engage a nut h, and arranged on said rod between said timber and adjacent end of the draw-bar B is another spiral spring M, that acts as a cushion for said draw-bar. The spring K resists forward movement of the draw-bar and acts to return and hold the latter in its normal position. Thus it will be seen that when the rack and pinion are in mesh and the cars coupled the chain I will be wound up to set the brakes. Now a forward movement of the cars will actuate the rack-and-pinion gear to turn the shaft 1) in its bearing to unwind the chain and release the brakes, the spring K being compressed by this operation. If the train slows up, or from anyother cause there is slack between cars, the spring K will expand and thereby set the brakes.

In that form of my invention shown by Figs. 4 to 6, inclusive, the shaft E has one end thereof provided with a squared portion 9 i for engagement with a correspondinglyshaped opening in the hub of a ratchet-wheel M, and a detent N is pivoted to the car to be brought into engagement with said ratchetwheel. The rear end of the ratchet-wheel hub is provided with an annular groove for engagement with a flanged bearing-ring P, bolted to the car, and the front end of said hub is provided with a similar groove for en-, gagement with lugs or screws j, extended in Ice from a flange- Z; on a hand-wheel Q, that is screw-threaded to the shaftE and has its hub provided. with a set-screw m, this construc tion being best illust'ated in Fig. 4. The

pinion I) being out of mesh with the rack C on the dra-\\'-ba1,thc dctent N is thrown back, the set-screw m tightened, and the hand-w heel Q actuated. By the latter operation the shaft E is rotated to wind the flexible device I, and the brakes are thus positivelyset, after which the detent is engaged with the ratchet-wheel and the set-screw loosened. Now by actuating the hand-wheel the shaft E is laterally adjusted to bring the pinion D into mesh with the rack C on the draw-bar, this opera tion being due to the hub of said hand-wheel acting as a nut to push upon said shaft, the latter sliding in the hub of the ratchet-wheel that is held against rotation by the detent. The rack and pinion being in gear, the detent is again disengaged from the ratchet-wheel, and the operation is the same as that above described, or, in other words, when the caris at a standstill the brakes are set; but when the train pulls out the flexible device is unwound to release said brakes, the movement of the draw-barbeing controlled by the spring K to automatically compensate for slack between cars and set the brakes in proportion thereto.

That form of my invention last described is preferably employed in hilly countries, because I am enabled to obtain a very tight set of the brakes while the car is at a standstill, and this normal set of said brakes is always exert-ed when there is no draft on the drawbar. In said latter form of my invention the levers F may be employed as a means to show the train-hands the position of the brakes.

As best illustrated in Fig. 3, the draw-bar of one car is provided with a link R opposed to a pin 8 on the draw-bar of the opposing car, and the link in its normal position rests against a bracket T 011 the end of the car. The link being in the position shown, a rearward movement of the draw-bar will cause it to drop over the opposing pin and thereby form a coupling for the cars.

In order that the brakes may be operated independent of the mechanism above described, I connect another chain U to the lever J, and attach said chain to a rod V at the end of the car.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A draw-bar provided with a rack, a laterally-adj ustable shaft, a pinion fast on the shaft to come in and out of mesh with the rack, and abrake-lever flexibly connected to said shaft, substantially as set forth.

2. A spring-controlled draw-bar provided with a rack, a laterally-adjustable shaft, a pinion fast on the shaft to come in .and out of mesh with the rack, and a brake-lever flexibly connected to said shaft, substantially as set forth.

3. A draw-bar provided with a rack, a laterally-adjustable shaft, levers connected to the shaft, a pinion fast on the same to come in and out of mesh with the rack, and a brake-lever flexibly connected to said shaft, substantially as set forth.

4. A spring-controlled draw-bar provided with a rack, a laterally-adjustable shaft, a pinion fast 011 the shaft to come in and out of mesh with the rack, a ratchet-wheel fitted to said shaft to rotate therewith without interference with the adjustment thereof, a detent for the ratchet-wheel, a hand-wheel screwthreaded to one end of the shaft and loosely connected with said ratchet-wheel, and a device for locking the hand-wheel and shaft, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand, at the city of Menasha, in the county of \Vinnebago and State of Wisconsin, in the presence of two witnesses.

LEONARD G. ARNOLD.

Vitnesses:

D. F. CHANDLER, ALBERT MALLEK. 

